Baldessari installation at Pepe Cobo via artnews.org
GalerÃa Pepe Cobo in Madrid is currently showing recent work from the series Arms & Legs (Specif. Elbows & Knees), etc., Part II by American artist John Baldessari. The exhibit is a group of over-painted photographic prints to which three-dimensional collage elements are added, featuring detached human body parts in cool primary colors.
Official Website [baldessari.org]
Exhibition information [Pepe Cobo]
Elbow detail via artemadrid
Baldessari became famous for his straightforward use of text in painting, and here the concept of ‘text’ seems to extend to body parts. By combining disparate images, the artist investigates our notions of completeness, what we leave in and take out to construct a whole. In this way, his recent work can be seen as a continuation of Baldessari’s career-long use of alteration and montage to construct new meaning from existing or familiar images.
Baldessari previously staged a series of shows called Noses and Ears, etc. The Pepe Cobo exhibition is an extension of his Arms & Legs, (Specif. Elbows & Knees) etc. show at Marian Goodman Gallery Paris last Fall.
